


Red String of Fate

by melethnin



Category: All Elite Wrestling, DDT Pro-Wrestling, Professional Wrestling, 新日本プロレス | New Japan Pro-Wrestling
Genre: 5+1 Things, Angel Wings, Angst, Dorks in Love, Fluff, Kayfabe Compliant, M/M, Somewhat, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wingfic, story spans like a decade, this fic is about kota but it's mostly from kenny's pov pls bear with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 10:38:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22549285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melethnin/pseuds/melethnin
Summary: Five times someone realized Kota Ibushi maybe wasn't entirely human, and the one time it didn't happen in a wrestling ring.
Relationships: Ibushi Kota/Kenny Omega
Comments: 3
Kudos: 45





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by that one person on the interwebs that called Ibushi an angel (but the scary, biblical kind). It kinda escalated from there

one.  
__________

Much later he is told that the first time it happened was actually kind of an accident. 

He had just come to Japan for the very first time in his life. His first tour of the Japanese indies as well, which he somehow had secured by filming that random ass wrestling match in and around his cottage back at home in Winnipeg. His main goal, besides just… getting to Japan at all had been to wrestle this company’s ace, Kota Ibushi. And right now, he was minutes away from doing just that. To say that he was nervous would be a serious understatement. Oh no. He had passed that feeling hours ago and now he found himself straight in the panicked nausea department. 

From the first time he had laid eyes on his opponent, even if it was only through a TV screen, he had felt… something. Like a spark, or an invisible string that had pulled him closer like 'Him. yes. find Him.' 

And now he was here, and this was really happening. Kenny pinched himself discreetly. This was real and the match couldn’t suck. He wouldn’t let that happen. 

The match didn’t suck. It was actually pretty amazing. From the first moment when they locked up, Kenny felt vindicated, because that spark that he had felt even back in Canada was definitely there. They were three minutes in, and it already felt like they had wrestled a million matches before. Kenny had never been this in sync with anyone, not just in his career, but his whole life really. And when he looked into Kota’s wide eyes when they were both down for the count, he knew that he was not the only one that felt like this. 

Then something weird happened. 

But look. 

Listen. 

It didn’t come out of nowhere. The whole time his opponent had had this kind of… gold sheen glittering around him. Kenny had brushed it off as nerves and bad lighting and his own rose-colored glasses, since this was his dream match. If he had gotten glitter in his eyes or something, he would deal with it later.

But right around the time Kota did his Phoenix Splash off the vending machine, something seemed to materialize on his back. There was so much gold. 

But the match continued despite that; like nobody but Kenny could see it, so Kenny had come to the conclusion that he had fully moved into hallucination territory. Maybe he had been kicked in the head too hard. Because those things materializing on Ibushi’s back really looked like wings and that was impossible. Despite everything and after internally admonishing himself to stay focused, Kenny couldn’t help but stare at them. 

And when he looked back into Kota’s face and saw nothing but shock and wonder, he started thinking that maybe he wasn’t imagining things.

Then Kota really kicked him in the head and his lights went out.

Kenny was vaguely aware that the world was moving on around him. Maybe he heard a three count and a cheering crowd somewhere out there. When his brain came back online, he found himself looking at the ceiling of the arena and he got this feeling like his body was too small and to big for him all at once. He had done it. It was over. He had just done the thing that he flew across a whole ocean for. But what now? 

‘What now’ transformed into getting back to his feet and finding his bearings. The crowd was still clapping and cheering, so he hadn’t been out for too long. When he turned his head, he was looking at his opponent again. The hallucination seemed to still be there. But that didn’t matter right now, because Ibushi was extending his hand for a handshake yet again and this time he didn’t want to refuse it. 

He couldn’t. 

So he limped over to him, went for a handshake and then straight for a hug. Then came the waterworks. 

A feathery blanket seemed to envelop both of them for a couple of moments, drowning everything around them out. Only the two of them existed for that period of time. When Kenny let go to look back into Kota’s eyes, he could see naked adoration shining in them. 

Kenny couldn’t stop crying, even after the crowd continued to cheer for him and after he was helped backstage. Before any questions of ‘What do I do now with my life’ could resurface, someone grabbed his hand and dragged him into the opposite direction of the locker rooms. It was Ibushi. 

He was dumped onto a storage crate next to a wall and before he knew what was happening, there were hands on his shoulders and on his neck, then his chin, getting him to look up into Kota’s face. 

“Ok?” Kota pointed at him. 

Kenny’s brain seemed to malfunction for a moment, as he stared in incomprehension. Kota kept repeating the same word to him, over and over until Kenny finally seemed to catch on. Kenny nodded and got a breathtaking smile for his troubles. 

The wings behind Kota quivered and Kenny’s attention was drawn to them once again. Kota didn’t seem to mind and started shooting some rapid-fire Japanese at Kenny while simultaneously grabbing Kenny’s left hand again. The only two words that he was able to decipher were the words ‘red’ and ‘fate’. His Japanese was really bad and the only reason that he knew the word for ‘fate’ in the first place was because he wanted to get the kanji sign for it tattooed when he was sixteen. 

Whatever Kota was trying to tell him, Kenny wouldn’t understand it anyway. So Kenny went for it on an impulse and tried to touch the golden things skittering around behind Kota with one hand. 

Huh. They were solid. 

“Come with me?” he was asked in broken English, his other hand still being held tightly. 

“Yes.” And that was that.


	2. Chapter 2

two.  
__________

And that wasn’t it of course. But that was their story for more than half a decade. 

Kota went, Kenny followed. Kenny went, Kota followed. 

Kenny learned Japanese. Kenny moved to Japan. Kota let him into his home. Kota cupped his cheeks and smiled at him. Kota loved him. Kenny loved him back. 

They learned how to live with each other. 

The first time Kota kissed him his whole body seized up with what felt like an electrical shock. That feeling never really changed, but Kenny got used to it. When they slept in the same bed, Kenny would find himself wrapped up in Kota’s wings like a burrito. In general, Kota’s wings seemed to gravitate towards him whenever he entered a room. 

When Kenny decided to be brave and ask Kota about his wings and their origin, he told Kenny to not worry about it too much.

“My mother has them too. It has always been like that. You’re the first one to really see them though, without me deciding to let you,” Kota said.

Kenny met Kota’s mom. After some explanations on Kota’s part and defiantly holding Kenny’s hand right in front of her, she let him see her wings too. They were just as golden, with a couple specks of white on the tips. Kenny felt like he just got adopted. 

After meeting his mother, Kenny got shoved into a wall as soon as they are back at their apartment by Kota. And right there, with their foreheads touching, eyes closed and the whole world blocked out, Kota told Kenny he loved him for the first time. Kenny wanted to scream it out into the world, but this, just the two of them, was enough for him. He said it back.

Molting was a nightmare. The less that was said about it, the better. 

Showering together was also a big no-no. Kota was pretty good about not accidentally hitting Kenny with his wings when they were close to each other. As a matter of fact, Kota tended to often use his wings to nudge Kenny into the right position or the right spot. And he was careful about it. But there was something about a tiny shower stall that just let those rules fly out of the window. After getting smacked in the nose three times within a minute and having a mouthful of feathers, Kenny drew the line.

Sometimes, Kenny felt like staring at Kota just because he could. Thought about all the things that he had done up to this point, weighing his virtues and his vices, trying to understand how he could have gotten so lucky; to find someone that perfect on the other side of the world, seemingly completely randomly. When Kota caught him staring, he smiled at Kenny tenderly, like Kenny was being silly. 

Sometimes, Kenny felt a tinge of jealousy at his more talented partner. He tried to snuff these thoughts out immediately, but Kota always seemed to notice. His self-doubts got worse when it was announced that they would have another match against each other at Budokan. 

The night before it happened, Kota asked Kenny to go flying with him. 

“I’m not going to drop you.” Kota smiled and poked the worried lines on his forehead and Kenny already knew that he had lost that battle. 

Kenny was very much terrified at the prospect of height anyways. Afterwards though he knew that he would never forget that feeling of freedom and happiness. The fact that he accidentally looked down on the ground and proceeded to freak out was promptly blocked out and repressed.

Kota just laughed at Kenny’s clinginess while they were in the air. 

The second time someone seemed to notice anything weird was in the match that followed, in DDT, against Kenny. 

Four years later. 

Nobody really saw anything concrete, but all of the crowd felt like the lights hit Kota differently that day for some reason.

After the match their boss, Takagi-san, gave Kota a searching look, but said nothing. And that was that.


	3. Chapter 3

three.  
__________

The first time someone else _really_ noticed was, funnily enough, again in a match. It was also the first time he realized that there was something more to Ibushi’s wings than the simple fact that they were really pretty and cool. It was 2013 and it was G1 season. Kenny wasn’t participating, but Kota was. So Kenny would second for him. In one of the matches he was supposed to face his hero, his god, Shinsuke Nakamura. 

This in itself didn’t trigger any life altering epiphanies, but the end of the match seemingly had Nakamura just as shaken as it had Kenny. 

Kota wasn’t a pushover. But he never got really angry either. Sure, he was not above yelling and fighting was in his blood, but the anger that came out during the end of their bout, after Nakamura had hit him one too many times, was different. It was a cold anger. Cold and calculated. The one where you were past raging or spitting foul insults and you couldn’t be swayed in your opinion anymore, consequences be damned. 

Kota was backed up into a corner with a couple of vicious strikes and kicks. It was fine, that had happened before. But Nakamura didn’t let up and continued to try to kick Kota’s head in. 

Until. 

Until in a seemingly last effort, Ibushi stood straight back up. His body language felt different to Kenny, like another person was occupying it. Ramrod straight and dead-eyed, he looked at his opponent. 

That was when it happened. 

The golden wings that Kenny came to adore changed into something darker. The gold melted away. The wings’ edges suddenly seemed pointier, not as feathery anymore. It almost hurt his eyes to look at them. His stance turned menacing. 

Nakamura… somehow noticed too.

Counters didn’t work anymore. Nakamura went down after a straight right in the face. But Kenny could see his face and could tell that Nakamura had just seen the same thing as Kenny had. This had never happened before. 

And then it was over. Like a blip. The wings were back to normal and Kota was down on the mat. And even in victory, Nakamura kept glancing at his fallen opponent on the ground out of the corner of his eyes. Like he was trying to figure something out. 

Kenny hauled ass. Both his and Kota’s. They didn’t get a locker room for themselves, so Kenny tried to find an empty bathroom as quickly as possible. Luckily, the women’s bathrooms were always very empty during wrestling shows. Kota’s wings dragged behind them, partly on the ground out of exhaustion. Kenny shoved Kota in and quickly locked the door. 

“Ibutan. What the hell-“ before he could get the question completely out, he was shoved against one of the sinks and found himself with an armful of his partner, Kota’s head tucked into Kenny’s neck. Well. Okay. So he needed a moment. Kenny wound his arms around Ibushi. The wings came up too and obscured everything else.

“I’m sorry,” was mumbled into his neck a minute later. 

“Ibutan, what happened out there?” Kenny knew there was no way that he could get his partner to stop acting like a leech but maybe he could at least get an answer for his questions. 

“I forgot.” 

“Forgot what, Ibutan?” Kota sucked in a breath against his neck and shuddered. 

“Forgot to never get too angry.” And. Well. Kenny tried hard to not make it seem like those words kind of scared him, but Kota appeared to notice anyway, like he always did. When Kota drew back and looked him in the eyes, he seemed to be all the way there. Not dead-eyed anymore. 

He received a soft smile and a peck for his troubles. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Kota decided. Kenny was very good at compartmentalizing. So, he did just that, slung Kota’s arm around his shoulders and started dragging him out of the bathroom. Before they could get back to their stuff however, they found someone else blocking the exit of the bathroom. 

“What was that out there?” Nakamura gave the same searching look that their boss in DDT had given them. Kota kept his head down while Kenny stared back at him defiantly, daring him to say it out loud.

“I know I saw something when we fought. There was a dark aura. Around Ibushi. I saw it.” Kenny kept staring at him. 

He knew that nobody would believe Nakamura if he said anything. If anybody else had seen it too, Nakamura wouldn’t be standing here alone. Nakamura knew that too. 

“Are you feeling okay, Nakamura-san?” Nakamura said nothing. Gave them the same look yet again. Then he let them pass after a few seconds. 

And that was that. 

One and a half years later, Kenny joined the Bullet Club to become the best.

He didn’t talk to Kota for almost three years. 

And that was that.


	4. Chapter 4

four.  
__________

He made new friends.

They treated him like he was one of their kids a little bit too often, but that was okay. They hugged him too. 

People didn’t really give out physical affection freely around him anymore except for them, so it was nice. Around them he could pretend that he didn't miss waking up with golden feathers in his hair. He thought that when they were around, he could be somewhat happy.

When he was asked about his former partner, whether by his friends or during an interview, he kept his face emotionless and always dodged an actual answer. 

Even though he knew he had no right to expect anything anymore, he still kind of hoped that he would get a conversation, a text message or even just a snide remark in an interview from him after he was finally successful in the ring too.

But there was nothing after he won the G1 on his first try, and there was nothing after his match at the Tokyo Dome against Okada. 

In a livestream he got overly emotional and admitted to the whole world that he had thought that if he started winning, he would come back to him. Because he could be proud of Kenny now. Something that he had never admitted out loud before. He tried to not sound too heartbroken. 

After he had turned the video camera off, immediate regret and shame flooded his whole being and tried to drown him. 

His partner had moved on. So maybe he should try to do that too. 

He couldn’t move on. 

And because of some cruel joke by the universe, he only seemed to come back after Kenny lost. 

After his loss to Naito at the G1 final, Kota approached him backstage. Kenny couldn’t run away like he so desperately wanted to. Kota was right in front of him and blocking his path. 

"Give them some space!" Kenny heard the Bucks yell somewhere behind him.

Kota reached out with one hand to comfort him, and all of a sudden, the last couple of years hadn’t happened. It was 2010 again and Kota was smiling fondly at him and cupping his cheeks, leaning in, Kenny just having messed up a word in Japanese. 

For a second, Kenny completely melted into the touch. Maybe this one time, he could let himself be weak and be comforted. Kota wasn't congratulating him or saying how proud he was like he imagined, but maybe just this nonverbal affirmation could be enough.

When he opened his eyes and looked around though, his whole world shattered, and everything came crashing down. 

Again. 

It was 2017 and a lot had happened. 

Kota’s wings had wrapped themselves around the two of them, just like they always used to. Nobody else had noticed, just like it used to be. 

But. 

The wings around him were not as solid as they used to be. 

They still flittered around a lot, Kota being unable to contain his emotions and his wings always working as a catalyst, even when he managed to keep his face blank. 

But Kenny could see straight through them. He could see the reporters around them. 

Sometimes, back then, he almost got in trouble because Kota had had this habit of wrapping Kenny up in them, which was nice in private, but not in a tag match when he needed to see if an opponent came flying at him. 

This though. This had never happened before. 

He stared back at Kota, shocked, unable conceal his feelings. 

And when he saw tears forming in his partner’s eyes, he wrenched himself out of the hold and stalked away, desperately trying to not fall apart in front of everyone. Kota's wings didn't stop him. 

His friends stayed silent when they followed him through the halls.

The next time it happened, it was at Wrestle Kingdom the following year.

Cody tried to taunt Kota into a match, even after Kenny specifically told him to fight anyone but him. 

Anyone but Kota.

But Cody did what Cody wanted to do, so he picked a fight with him anyway. 

Kenny couldn’t help but watch the match backstage. It still hurt to look at Ibushi for too long. Nevermind having to look at Cody at all, that weasel. Objectively he knew that he was watching a good match. He wanted to look away, but somehow, he couldn’t. 

The wings turned into something worse when they started exchanging palm strikes at the end of the match. But Kota didn’t seem too mad; his eyes didn’t look dead... and the wings were still see-through. 

And then Cody yelled the dumbest thing while clutching Kota’s hair.

Kenny knew that it was over now. He shouldn’t have used Kenny’s name in front of him.

Kota’s wings turned back to solid right in front of Kenny’s eyes when he kicked Cody in the temple. And while they were completely black for a second when he countered Cody, when he climbed up onto the turnbuckle to do his Phoenix Splash, the move he hadn’t performed since Kenny had betrayed him, they turned back to gold. 

The last thing Kenny could bear to look at was the expression on Cody’s face after the bell had rung and the camera had zoomed in on the defeated ones; seeing him mouthing a confused 'The fuck' to himself.

Maybe not Brandi, but Cody had definitely seen something too. 

Afterwards, they had dinner together as the Elite.

Cody kept looking at him like Kenny owed him some sort of explanation. Kenny stared back without even considering a truthful answer, for a second violently being reminded of that one encounter with Nakamura ages ago.

Their staring didn’t go unnoticed though, and when Nick asked the both of them what the hell was going on, Kenny picked a fight. 

Kenny, feeling hurt, left after the Bucks didn’t take his side. 

And that was that.


	5. Chapter 5

five.  
__________  


Kenny tried to get away again. He just couldn’t deal with this right now. He was already crying and couldn’t seem to really stop, just like when they had first met. But his family had just betrayed him, and Kota had come to his rescue. 

The worst of it was that the wings were completely there and more golden than he’d ever seen them before. After Kenny could see straight again, the first thing he saw was the goddamn wings. _So this is what they look like when I'm not by his side, _Kenny thought bitterly. 

Kota had his back turned to him. Like he was ready to leave. 

Again. 

Just when Kenny tried to drill it into his own stupid head that it was better that way, that Kota was better off without him – and hell, so was he! – Kota turned around and tentatively started approaching him. Which was somehow even worse than seeing him walk away. 

Then Kota reached out to take his hand. 

Kenny didn’t want to accept it. 

Simply couldn’t accept it. 

He was at his lowest right now and the last thing he deserved was some comfort. Kota should’ve come back a year ago when Kenny was soaring high above everybody else. 

He had to leave and lick his wounds in solitude, somehow find the strength to strike back against Cody and reclaim his status as the leader. And not think about his partner. Former partner. 

But when he started inching away towards the ropes, Kota kept following him and kept holding out his hand. Kenny pretended to not notice it was shaking. Even though Kenny couldn’t look into his eyes right now, he knew that they were fixed on his own. He couldn’t look, Kota was shining too bright. He always had. 

Somehow, Kenny got back to his feet by himself. He tried to reassure himself once more that he didn’t need this anymore, that it was too late. Kota’s hand dropped lower and lower. His wings were drooping.

_I could just steal one glance at Kota’s face before I leave,_ Kenny thought. 

But when he looked into the teary brown eyes, it felt like a punch in the gut. All the air left his lungs. He had to get out of here, quickly. 

He grabbed the top rope with a hand and already had a foot halfway through the ropes when a hand on his shoulder roughly shoved him back and a wing obscured his vision of the crowd. He was turned back to look directly into Kota’s face. 

He just couldn’t. 

Couldn’t deny himself any longer. 

Kenny fell into Kota’s arms and held onto him like a lifeline. Shoved his face right into his hair and blocked out the whole world. Solid gold wrapped around him for the first time in years right around the time his knees started to give out. Everything after that was a blur. 

Things were looking up, maybe. 

Being together again was almost eerie. 

It was like they hadn’t missed a beat and were still so very much in synch with each other, but some things had in fact changed and they left Kenny reeling every time he became aware of it. 

Relearning that he was allowed to touch freely… certainly was an experience. The first time he brushed against Kota’s wings at home, he froze up, half expecting them to go back to being see-through and breaking his heart all over again. 

As soon as it got a tad warmer, Kota started molting like crazy. It was strange to find feathers lying around in random places, seeing as it was something that he hadn’t had to deal with for years. He got over the apprehension with the feathers very quickly after finding them stuck in his hair in the morning again. 

Training together felt surreal. They were both older and broader and much more focused on strike-based wrestling. 

Well. 

At least Kenny thought they were, until he saw Kota do a cartwheel into a corkscrew front flip for his warm-up. He landed on his feet. Kenny felt absurdly heavy in comparison when he watched him do it. 

Kota still liked his hair, even though he jokingly bemoaned the fact that it wasn’t blonde anymore every day. It didn’t stop him from tugging on it and watching it spring back into place though. Kenny also had more wrinkles on his face and even if Kota clearly didn’t, he felt his age. Kota’s hair was a lot shorter than it used to be, and his face looked a little bit less cherubic, but that was about it. Maybe.

When Kota grinned at him after their workout, something felt off. It took Kenny an hour to figure it out, only realizing it when he watched Kota eat. 

“Your teeth are different!” Kenny found himself exclaiming.

“Yes? I got braces.” 

“What? Why?” Kota looked at him like Kenny was the crazy one. 

“Because they were crooked.” Oh. Well. Hm. 

On a different note, during the training Kenny took note of the fact that Kota was staring at Kenny a couple times, almost like he was trying to make sure that he was really there. 

When he reached out to hold Kenny's hand afterwards, like he was actually trying to check, Kota started glowing with happiness. Kenny didn't know what to do with himself when that happened. 

Kota still didn’t like to travel. There was something about having to travel by normal means that irked the very soul of his partner. Kenny didn’t say anything when Kota started ranting during dinner, just made sympathetic noises at the right moments and reached out pet him consolingly wherever he could reach. 

“Going there by plane is so stupid when I can just fly there myself!” 

Kenny had heard that a thousand times before and knew that Kota would ignore his very valid statement that flying by himself with luggage was very impractical.

“Oh, you’re right,” Kota sighed after a minute. “Me complaining is not going to change anything. I know that flying around with suitcases and a backpack is unreasonable.”

Hm. That kind of self-reflection was new.

The world kept moving on around them and things were set in motion by accident. Because before anything could get better, it got worse. 

Kenny slipped up in a promo, still deliriously happy, and the Bucks took offense to it and challenged them to a match. The night ended with a shouting match in their locker room. Kota tried to comfort him, but he couldn’t change the fact that the match was going to happen now. 

The fifth time it happened, the Bucks saw flashes during the match. 

Or to be more specific: they didn’t know what the hell they were seeing. 

When Matt kept slapping Kota in the face, he could have sworn that Kota’s eyes turned black for a second. But that was only a trick of the light, and before he could analyze it, he was already in agony after Kota kicked him in his injured back. But even though Matt was blinded from the pain, he could feel the energy in the air changing around him. Then Kenny seemed to shove Kota away, telling him to calm down. 

So that’s how it was. 

They were still holding back against the Junior Heavyweights. Matt’s pain slowly turned into anger.

Matt was hurting, so he tried to hurt Kenny too. The fact that this had nothing to do with weight classes was to be ignored. This was about business only and had nothing to do with friendship. Unfortunately for him, his body kept giving up on him. 

So, Matt didn’t really get to see them, because he was already in too much pain during the end. 

But Nick. 

When Nick gave his last stand after he tried to will his brother to stand up and fight one last time, screaming in his face and not being able to help him, he saw something gold wrapping around Kenny when he finally looked up. But it was too late already really, to think about anything but the end of the match. And the end of the match came all too quickly. 

Kenny too, realized that the Bucks had seen something. 

And when the bell rang, and Kenny had collapsed over the fallen body of Matt, the tears came yet again. He couldn’t bear to let go of Matt for a very long moment. 

He stepped back and even though Kenny didn’t shove out the feathery cocoon he was wrapped into as soon as he got to his bearings, it wasn’t as comforting as it usually had been. 

Because he knew. 

There would be no sidelong glances or vague statements, no raised eyebrows and demanding stares later. 

His best friends wouldn’t even look at him anymore. 

And that was that.


	6. Chapter 6

one.  
__________

Despite everything else going south, the two of them continued to get their groove back. When Kenny dyed his hair blonde again, Kota cupped his cheeks and smiled at him, just like he used to ten years ago. Kenny, completely overwhelmed with this new but old and familiar reality, started getting misty-eyed. Kota's eyes widened. 

“Kenny-tan! Please don’t cry, I like the hair! I didn’t mean to stare! Kenny-tan!” Kota exclaimed. 

Hearing the old nickname that hadn’t been used for years made him want to cry even more. That seemed to happen a lot lately. It was like all the emotions he had methodically bottled up during their time apart wanted to spill out all at once. 

When Kenny started quietly giggling at his own ridiculousness, Kota huffed exasperatedly, let Kenny go and smacked him upside the head for good measure with the tip of his wing. Still rolling his eyes, he turned back to preparing them dinner. 

“You’re still so dramatic.” Kota half-smiled at him after a second. 

Yeah. They’d be alright.

When Dominion approached, Kenny got an idea.

"Let’s shoot a super dramatic video and dress you up in all white while I’m all in black and have the ground around you be littered with white feathers. Not golden. So it’ll look like you’re my guardian angel. Just for the shit of it. It’ll be funny," Kenny proposed. 

Kota thought it would be funny too. So they did it. 

And then Kenny beat Okada with Kota by his side. 

Afterwards, his best friends came out to congratulate him. Kenny's wish that they could just say 'Water under the bridge' and be a family again came true. The Bucks had managed to escape Cody's web of lies and see that this whole mess was not about Kenny choosing Kota over them. And it never had been. They hugged and the waterworks were back again, just like after the first time he had shared a ring with his partner. 

Back at the hotel, when the Bucks tried to talk to them about all of it, the three of them were spread out on the beds while Kota was looking for something in his backpack. They just wouldn't straight out ask what they desperately wanted to know and were awkwardly beating around the bush.

“So. I couldn’t help but notice something… um. Glittery around us. Back there.” 

“Yeah, I could swear there was something… feathery… touching my back too, when we hugged in the ring.” They looked uncomfortable, even though it was clear as day that they had thought about their choice of words a lot. 

Kenny stared at them blankly, just to see them squirm. 

He waited a long time for them to start asking questions. They looked even more uncomfortable.

After a moment, he took mercy on them. 

“Yeah. It’s a thing. You’re not crazy. You’re not the first one’s to see them. Cody knows, I think.” Kenny looked at Kota and told him that they had caught glimpses of the wings too. 

“We’re the Golden Elite now after all, you should be in on the joke,” Kenny said to them. 

Kota, the secret show-off that he was, intentionally let them see his wings right then and fluttered them on purpose. The Bucks couldn’t help but stare, both slack-jawed. 

“Golden Star, huh? That explains so much actually,” Nick said after a moment. 

“I thought the… air changing around him … was just, you know, him being attractive,” Matt muttered. 

After another awkwardly worded question whether they could touch them, which Kenny promptly declined with a frown, they looked like they wanted to ask something else. 

“What?” said Kenny, exasperated.

After a moment, they asked at the same time. 

“What is he to you?” 

“Are you two together?”

Oh. That wasn’t that easy to put into words. 

To call them a couple would undersell it. When he would try to explain what they meant to each other, he could never find the right words. Kota once called it a red string of fate that bound them together. No matter how far they were apart, the universe would always find a way to bring them back into each other’s orbit. Kenny would call it soulmates. Like that first time they wrestled each other, when Kenny got to see the full brunt of Kota’s wings on accident and had been able to see them ever since. 

They saw all of each other. 

He knew that he still put Kota on a pedestal sometimes, tended to idealize him a bit too much and think too little of himself, equated his worth as a person too much with his in-ring performance. Still sometimes thought that Kota cared about things like that. 

But he was working on it, and they both knew that now. Starting with the video they made, they could now poke fun at it. 

Because even though Kota wasn’t fully human, ethereal and beautiful but sometimes also an eldritch horror and terrifying, he was also still just a dude in a pair of shorts and a T-Shirt, pounding the mat when Kenny was struck down by an opponent. He was still just a dude who loved Kenny a whole lot. 

But it was okay. When he tried to explain it to them in stilted sentences, unable to vocalize his feelings the right way, Kenny thought that they got it anyway. They looked happy for him. 

The first time someone else saw them when Kota was not wrestling seemed inconsequential, really. The drama had already been dealt with. 

It wasn’t after he had won the belt or after the G1 or anytime during the summer. Although Kota’s wings did turn pitch black and sharp and predatory during multiple matches in the G1; even the dead, stony expression coming back for the first time in years. The Bucks saw them again too during the final and proceeded to freak out. If Tanahashi had noticed as well, he didn’t let it on. 

But it was okay, Kota and Kenny dealt with it. They were alright.

That one time happened the day after All In. The whole lot of them had been exhausted from the entire procedure, so they decided to change their usual family dinner to a family brunch the following morning. Kenny and Cody (and Pharaoh) had literally patched things up the night before. All of them needed a bit of normalcy. 

On a whim they decided to meet in Cody and Brandi’s room, and while they were all trickling in, Kenny made himself comfortable between his partners legs on the floor and leaned his back against the chest behind him. They also decided to share a plate. 

Since Kenny liked to be able to see his friends, the wings weren’t fully wrapped around them. They were resting on Kenny’s lap and torso though, like a fluffy blanket. Nobody gave them a second glance at first. 

Hangman however, still slightly traumatized from the events of the night before, kept staring off into the distance. After a while, he seemed to focus on the Golden Lovers. His face shifted from incomprehension to bafflement, then to disbelief. So, when Brandi asked Adam a question, she didn’t get an answer. 

Brandi, irritated because she was being ignored, decided to follow Page’s line of sight to see what was so interesting and proceeded to drop her fork. 

“What the fuck are those!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update 06/24: Edited someone out


End file.
